And the Winner is... plus, What's 'New-to-Us'!

I'm thrilled to announce the winner of my first-ever blog giveaway! With the help of my own personal 'Random Comment Picker'...

The winner is...

Joy at Cupids Charm! Thanks so much to everyone who commented on the blog, and I hope you enjoy your new goodies, Joy!

So, on to our 'new-to-us' acquisition... our 'new' hundred year-old dining room set!
We actually bought this set last fall, and as some of it was in pretty bad condition, hadn't gotten it all together in one place 'til just recently... the set came with twelve-- yes, twelve! (2 captains & ten sides)-- chairs, which have been re-upholstered in a fantastic mossy-sagey green and burnished gold damask fabric...

This is the pedestal of the 60" round table... it is really just quite enormous-- it splits in two, and has room for five leaves, opening the table up to a total of ten feet long for those huge family dinners I always seem to end up hosting!

This sideboard, below (one of two-- I haven't gotten the smaller one yet, though I've spoken up for it!) is seven feet long, and 32" deep. Again, enormous. But it has great storage-- room for all of my antique linen table cloths, cake pedestals, and cutlery! Obviously, it is still in need of some work-- we'll be re-painting the entire set in the same creamy colour... soon??

Just for now, here's what I've put on the sideboard for display...

A few vintage decanters, filled with creamy buttons, all snuggled together on a vintage silver-edged mirror with legs!

Half of my ever-growing collection of vintage glass candle holders...

And a sweet little 2 oz bottle with stopper sitting on a vintage mirror & crystal candle pedestal...

That's all for now... I've got a date with a paintbrush (which I suspect will turn very quickly into a long, drawn-out affair!)
;)

'Creatively Speaking' and My First Blog Giveaway!

The more I blog, and the more I explore other blogs, the more I realize what a wealth of incredibly talented, giving, and supportive women entrepreneurs there are out in 'blogland'.

Just knowing this has provided masses of encouragement for me-- enough even, to get up the nerve to start my own web-based business! For me, always a natural 'back-seater', taking the proverbial leap into the web has been one that has forced me to grow in ways I couldn't even imagine. It's been a frightening, exhilarating, rewarding and enlightening experience, one I wouldn't trade for the world.

What I'd really like to know, though, is how you all do it! So I've decided to create a new feature for the blog, called 'Creatively Speaking' where I'll interview the owners of some of the best, most creative blogs and sites on the web, and hopefully tap into their creative consciousnesses.

I am hoping that 'Creatively Speaking' can be a platform where we can all learn from one another. I think that uniting some of the many diverse and talented women in 'blogland' and creating an atmosphere of sharing where we can all glean inspiration and support from one another though such a medium as 'Creatively Speaking' will be inspiring and fulfilling for all of us!

My very first 'cochon d'Inde' (uhm, yeah-- 'guniea pig' just sounds so much better when you say it in French, doesn't it?) is none other than Fabulous Fifi herself!

I'd like to thank Fifi, who has been so gracious in participating in my very first blog interview. Her unfailing generosity in sharing her projects and ideas with others is legendary in 'blogland'. I chose Fifi because to me, she is the epitome dynamic creativity, and truly seems to implement that creativity into her own daily life, her surroundings, and her personality. And I think we can all learn from that!

Welcome Fifi! I hope you all enjoy her insightful interview as much as I have!

Creatively Speaking: Ten Q & A with Fifi O’Neill:

1. Please tell us about a bit about yourself… what do you do?

I am an editor, writer and photo stylist.

2. How did you come to do what you do? If you weren’t doing this, what would you be doing?

I always wanted to be a writer. I began my career in the 1960s when I was still living in Paris. If I wasn't a writer I would be involved with animals in one way or another.

3. Please complete the following sentence: Three things about me that would surprise other people are…

a) I have owned 3 restaurants.

b) I can't sew.

c) I love to be alone.

4. What inspires you?

Other creative people.

5. What brings your creative drive to a screaming halt? How do you recharge your creative battery?

Too much writing/editing. The best thing for me is to switch from writing to creating something with my hands. It frees my mind.

6. Time to play favorites! What are your favorite:

Colors: all the soft hues

Foods: chicken and any kind of vegetables

Blogs/Sites: Any blog with beautiful photographs, interesting interiors, great gardens and those with creative projects.

Guilty Pleasures: shopping for girly things and home and garden accessories.

6. If there was a fire in your home (God forbid!), and you could only save one inanimate object (lets assume all family, friends and pets are safe!), what would you save? Why?

My computer because all my work is on it.

7. Please complete the following sentences:

I can’t live without: beauty around me.

I’m totally addicted to: Girly clothes

8. What’s ‘So In’ for you right now?

Any object/accessory made of chicken wire

9. Time to play ‘If I’d known then what I know now…’: please tell us one thing you have learned that you wish you would have known at the beginning of your career. How would it have changed or made things better for you?

I truly believe "Ignorance is Bliss" because if you knew what to expect when you get in most business you might never take that step. I wouldn't change a thing.

10. Finally, please give three tips to other ‘bloggers’ and Women In Business (henceforth to be known as WIB’s!):

a) Never let someone say "It won't work."

b) Don't worry about rejection.

c) Stay the course. it might take longer than you thought (it always does) but you will reach your goal.

Thanks so much once again to Fabulous Miss Fifi, for participating in 'Creatively Speaking'! Each comment received on the post will automatically go into a random drawing for my very first blog giveaway... goodies include: a gold 'fleur-de-lis-esque' kind of frame-- it comes to you with a perfect empty circle in the middle (Just to get your creative juices flowing!), a really great vintage silver teaspoon, an old key-- rusted 'just-so', a metal roses 'thingie', which can be used for any number of things, three fabuous, high-quality sheets of stickers (one nests, one eggs, and one vintage 'Paris' ephemera), and two vintage-look 'Paris' ephemera postcards, all sent to you in a fantastic vintage-inspired emphemera file-folder! (And, if I happen to run across any more fabulous doo-hickie's this week, I may just throw them in to the mix!)

Drawing will be held on Monday, June 9, 2008!